Closure plans 'threat to justice'

Government spending cuts and plans to close more than 100 courts could pose a threat to "open and fair" justice in England and Wales, the Centre for Crime and Justice Studies said.

Plans to close up to 103 magistrates' courts could increase pressure on courts to divert more cases out of the courts system or accelerate them to the crown court, leaving magistrates "high and dry", the centre said.

It warned the Government should avoid "blindly walking towards justice delivered by officials" amid fears over the consistency and transparency of out-of-court disposals.

Spending on the criminal courts rose to more than a billion pounds in 2008/09 but staff numbers declined by 12% over the past three years, figures released in the report showed.

The number of defendants proceeded against in the magistrates' courts also fell, down 16% in the 10 years to 2008/09, the report found.

"The marked decline in the business of magistrates' courts raises questions about the future of magistrates' courts' justice itself," it said.

Its authors, Dr Roger Grimshaw and Helen Mills, said the fall in the number of cases was an "indication perhaps of the impact of the new out-of-court penalties as well as the effect of stricter prosecution standards".

The report also found that only 53% of the offences brought to justice in 2008 were convictions in the courts.

Dr Grimshaw, the centre's research director, said: "With an annual billion-pound bill for the criminal courts arriving in the Government's in-tray, many magistrates' courts are earmarked for closure but we hear little about the massive expansion of cases decided by police and prosecutors.

"Where is the debate about open and fair justice? Are we blindly walking towards justice delivered by officials and consigning lay magistrates to history?"